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August 6, 2010

Brave’s favorite book of late has been Mouk, thus I decided a little Mouk birthday was in order for our newly three year old girl. It was all a bit of a surprise and good thing she doesn’t question what I make too much while I am sewing. True knew all about it and was very excited to surprise her little sister.

I sewed my first kinda-quilt ever! It is a blanket of the world because Mouk travels all throughout the world. Of course it is not made to scale (and a few islands may be missing) as something very exact would have made me go bonkers. We hung it up for the celebration, but now it can be used as any type of blanket from picnics to play to learning or even sleeping. Ben put some steel poles in the ground for our little party and I just strung up some left over bunting from Linda’s wedding.

Here is my special little Bravey wearing her new, but vintage birthday dress. The birthday girl was happy as she recognized everything right away!

Naturally, a little softie Mouk had to be made to go along with the celebration.

Something from every country Mouk travelled to was represented at the celebration. There were Papas Fritas from Peru, sushi from Japan, snow (the shaved ice in the coconuts) from Finland, fruits from Madagascar (topped the snow in the coconuts), macarons from Paris, watermelon rind masks from Greece, turkish delight from Libya, hibiscus tea from West Africa, licorice from Australia (not sure if it is particularly Australian, but this particular one was made there). Brave also got some special presents which included a golden fish kite from China and a New York stamp set. Lastly, we made painted elephants just like did in the book in India. Thus as we read the book, we indulged in the special delights represented from each country. The girls were most anxious and excited about painting the elephants, and of course devouring all the little sweet treats!

A Mouky (as they like to call him) party was the perfect celebration for our wonderful little Brave… small, simple, and sweet just like our birthday girl!

Wow! You are awesome. My son loooooooves Mouk!! It is the only book he ever wants to read. I painted a Mouk bear on canvas to hang in his room, and he always tells people who visit “mommy, painting”. He is 2. It is amazing how you turned the book into a party. Love it!

hi! i heard of your blog a while back from my good friend, kevin (nina's boyfriend). i just wanted to say that this is SOOOO cute and creative! your little girls are so lucky to have such a cool mommy! God really blessed you with talent! (=

I have no desire to have kids for at least 10 or 15 years but when I read your blog it makes me yearn to be a mom. You are SO creative and great at what you do. I hope I'm as good of a mother to my kids as you are to your beautiful girls 🙂

Can I be your kid? lol! I love all the fun parties you plan.How fun! I noticed the quilt in the background in yesterday's post & was going to ask where you got it…it's fabulous! I have a feeling everybody will be wanting one. 🙂 I just love how you all celebrated outside on a quilt…too cute.By the way,we all love Mouk here,too…. who doesn't? 🙂 Your girls sure are lucky to have such a creative mom….you're always raising the bar every time you do something.

You really outdo yourself EACH TIME! You are killing me with how awesome this private party was! I want a Mouk birthday party this month now. I'm turning 29 on the 31st! I think I should talk Brett into making me some watermelon rind masks and locate some macaroons.

You really are an inspiration. Everything you do with your family is infused with so much creativity and love. I can't imagine what wonderful, creative lives your girls will lead with such great examples from you and your husband. Well done!

adorable! where do you manage to find the time to work on such creativity with three little ones in tow. when mine were littles i felt like a chicken with it's head cut off lol! anyhoo, looks like brave had such a great time what a blessing of a mommy you are!blessings and have a loveLee monday!

I can't understand how you can manage to find so much time to do all that stuff. I would really like to be organized as you are. I am also eager that my baby girl be 1 and 2 year old and I could do fun stuff for her birthday too. But since then, there will be Christmas and you gave me ideas for it.

oh my goodness, I LOVE that quilt — it is amazing. My littlest one's room is sort of “internationally” themed. I have paper quilted pieces that are sort of collages reminiscent of different parts of the world. This quilt would be great in her room!

I am always so inspired by your crafts!! You have such a fresh approach! This party was perfect in every way! And I have to say I am obsessed with that quilt!! I think you should patent it because everyone will be making one since it is so darn cute! I know I will at least try to.

WOW!!! i am amazed!! you are so talented. i'm in love with your world map quilt! (i also love the quilt on the ground!) also, can i just say how much i love and appreciate how you express your faith on your blog?!

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Kimchi Fried Rice
approximately 6 servings Ingredients:
1. 4 cups day old rice
2. 1 egg per person
3. 2 chopped green onions (white portion for the fried rice, green for garnishing)
4. 1/2 can chopped turkey spam (optional, but I admit I'm a fan of spam)
5. 1 packet of seasoned seaweed (optional)
6. 3 cups good kimchi with its juices
Note:Look for deep red coloring in the juice, and the older the better! This can't be made with fresh kimchi. If the kimchi you buy looks fresh (the cabbage leaves look white and not very flavorful), leave it outside on your kitchen counter overnight.
7. 2 tbsp sesame oil
Directions:
1. Heat up the sesame oil and add in the kimchi (save the juice and set aside). Sauté together, add in the spam, and continue combining it all together.
2. Add in the rice, and break it up mixing it with the kimchi.
3. Add the kimchi juice and the white parts of the green onions. The kimchi juice should turn the rice red.
4. Crumble or cut the seaweed and sprinkle it over and continue to combine it all together.
5. Taste and then season with more kimchi juice if needed.
6. Fry an over easy egg and add that on top. Garnish with the remaining green onions. Plate. Boom. Done. Enjoy!

Helpful tips: Fried rice is best cooked with day old rice. If you don't have day old rice, cook the rice, stick it in the freezer for about 30 minutes to an hour. If it's too hot and fresh, the fried rice will turn out sticky. Also, this recipe doesn't need any additional salt! The kimchi has a very strong flavor, the seasoned seaweed has salt, and the spam is pretty salty too. If the rice tastes bland, try pouring more kimchi juice to season it. Add butter with the sesame oil for extra flavor, but if you're trying to keep it not as low nutrition as possible, leave the butter out!

This recipe is shared and made by my BFF. I just took pictures as she cooked it for us the day I had my little surgery to get my cyst taken care of. She's such a pal! It was totally a minor procedure, but she came for moral support and to make us lunch. I'm thankful for her (and all the yummy food she's ever introduced me to).
Seafood is my favorite type of food to eat, and Korean and Japanese are neck in neck right after. Korean food is just bomb diggity bomb. No joke. If you've never tried it, start with their Korean BBQ, and then work your way up to the bolder flavors. The first time I tried kimchi, it was too strong, but now I absolutely love it! There is much good flavor and spice. Spice! By now you all know how much we love spicy!!! Every time Linda has come over with dinner, it's a new instant favorite and Ben and I are always trying to recreate it. Thanks for sharing the recipe Lin!!!